Consequences
by H. S. Hines
Summary: Kagome discovers she is pregnant... InuKag, complete. This is a three part story, being posted in chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I do not own Kagome. I do not own the worlds they live in. I will not borrow other people's characters without a disclaimer. I will not eat chalk. I will not mock Mrs. Dumbface. I will not pretend I'm Bart Simpson writing sentences. End of Disclaimer. _

Genre: Drama  
Rating: PG-13  
Codes: Inu/Kag, Mir/San (or canon)  
Feedback: Is much appreciated. Flames are for candles, though, so please keep them to warm yourself.

* * *

"**Consequences**"

* * *

Part one 

Kagome cursed as she looked at her calendar. She quickly counted again, hoping that she was mistaken, but no. It had been a little over two months. Which meant her period wasn't just late; it was officially missed.

"Damnit, InuYasha, why did I let you talk me into…" Kagome bit her lip and sat down on her bed. "I'm supposed to be smarter than this."

"Kagome," called her mom. Kagome groaned and laid back on her bed, knowing what was going to follow. "InuYasha's here!"

"Coming," Kagome yelled. She didn't know why, but she had thought InuYasha would know when she was ovulating. She thought he'd be able to smell it or something. '_Could he have done this on purpose?_' she wondered. Maybe he didn't realize what this would mean for her. Maybe he thought her saying yes meant she was ready for children. She cursed herself for not bringing condoms back with her. Asking her mother to take her to get an abortion was going to be even harder than getting her hands on condoms would have been.

"What's taking so long?" InuYasha asked as he walked into her room. Kagome just stared at the ceiling and didn't answer him. She felt the bed shift as he sat next to her. "Kagome?" She still didn't answer him. After all, this was his fault. Why couldn't he have kept pretending not to like her? "Is something wrong?" he asked softly. Kagome closed her eyes, fighting back tears. She didn't want to kill a baby. She always thought she would finish school, get a job, fall in love, get married and have children, in that order. She couldn't mess up her life by not going to high school. She had worked too hard to balance school and the search for the jewel shards to throw it all away now.

And what of InuYasha? He put a hand on her leg and stared down at her with confusion, no trace of his usual anger at her being late. Would he come through the well to stay? Would she stay with him? She loved him, so much. He had shown that he loved her, too. But what if he didn't want to stay with her? She finally looked over at him. Would he want to spend his life watching her grow old and die?

She had wondered that before, but it had never mattered as much as it did now. She liked how he treated her now, how his patience had grown and his temper had waned.

"Okay," Kagome said, pushing the dark thoughts away. "I'm ready." InuYasha stood up and watched her as she stood. He took her bag, giving her strange looks of concern. She wasn't ready to discuss it with him, not until she was certain and she couldn't be really sure until she got tested. She just couldn't believe she'd let it go so long. She had just had so much on her mind, she had not even thought about her period.

She smiled at her mom and said good-bye to her, Gramps and Sota before following InuYasha down the well. She felt very far-away as she tried in vain to sense any jewel shards. When InuYasha tried to be intimate, she went and hid by Sango, who was just confused. She found herself increasingly distant, lost in her thoughts, and oddly enough, it was Miroku who noticed and said something.

She was sitting under the moon, trying very hard to convince herself to go home and talk to her mother when Miroku walked up beside her.

"Kagome," he said quietly. "Something has been bothering you, hasn't it?"

"Oh, it's nothing…" Kagome said, trying to dismiss it. But Miroku was genuinely concerned for her and he could tell that while InuYasha was as well, he wasn't able to talk to Kagome about whatever was bothering her.

"It seems as though it might be serious. We are all getting worried about you, Kagome. You were almost killed in that last battle, but… it almost felt like you weren't there." Miroku sat next to her, keeping a respectful distance. Kagome knew he must be taking it seriously if he wasn't trying to grope her. She sighed and gave into the urge she had wanted to since before she came back.

"I think I'm pregnant," she stated bluntly, surprising herself. Miroku's eyes went wide.

"Is it… it is InuYasha's, yes?"

"Yeah," Kagome said. She took a deep breath. "I know we shouldn't have and that I'm too young, although you don't think I'm too young, but I am. But I love him and I think he loves me, I mean, it's pretty obvious, but I don't know if we could ever actually be together. After all, he's a couple centuries older than me and was born like seven hundred years or so before me. Plus, he's a hanyo, so if I keep the baby, will it be a hanyo, too? Will it suffer like he does?"

"Wait, what do you mean 'if you keep the baby'?" Miroku asked, interrupting her and giving her a chance to breathe.

"Well, I'll probably have an abortion," she said. "They made it legal like fifty years ago or something." Kagome looked over at Miroku and was surprised to see horror on his face.

"You would kill the baby?" he asked, appalled.

"I don't want to…" she admitted. "But I don't really have a choice. In my time, abortion's considered better than being a mother at the wrong time in life." Miroku was looking away, obviously distressed.

"It is a sad thing if it is a common practice to murder babies," Miroku said. "Many of the things from your world are amazing and often beautiful. You speak of a world without war or plagues. Yet, it is a world where children are abandoned before they may even breathe." He paused for a moment. "I am not certain that it is worth it." Kagome felt a tear escape. Her own misgivings broke the surface and she drew her knees up against her chest, hugging them, and buried her face in them, weeping.

"But if I don't," she cried, "What will I do?" Miroku had no answer for her. "I mean, it's not like I wouldn't write him or her a note and explain why I couldn't care for him. I'd give him a name and everything." Kagome wiped her face.

"Why would you… share his bed, if you didn't want a child?" Miroku asked, baffled. "Why do you not want a child?"

"Because I'm stupid and because I'm too young," she answered unhappily.

"You are many things, Kagome, but stupid is something I would never call you." Miroku said. Kagome sniffed. "What does InuYasha say?"

"I… I haven't told him," Kagome mumbled.

"What?" Miroku exclaimed. "How could you give him no choice in the matter? What if he wishes to be a father?" Miroku demanded. "If I found out a woman was going to bear my child, but did not want him, I would happily take him!"

"What if it was a girl?" Kagome asked absently.

"What? What does that matter? A child is a child. If he or she is mine, I would gladly share or even take the responsibility."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but then I wish it _was_ yours. I'm not sure InuYasha's going to feel the same way."

"How can you know if you don't ask?" Miroku stood up and looked down at her.

"You're right," Kagome said, standing. "I need to talk to him before I make this decision. After all, maybe I'm not as alone as I feel."

"You're not alone, Kagome. You have us," Miroku said, walking off. Kagome stared at her shoes.

"Miroku?"

"Yes?" Miroku paused.

"Thank you."

Miroku smiled. "Of course," he said. Kagome stayed out under the moon for a while, hoping InuYasha would come to her so she wouldn't have to go find him. She lucked out, because he stepped out of the shadow of the trees a few minutes later.

"Hi, InuYasha," Kagome said.

"Hi yourself," he responded, walking over to her. He stepped up behind her and nervously touched her arms. When she didn't step away, he wrapped his arms around her. Kagome could feel the tension in the way he held her, afraid she would run away again. Kagome leaned back against him.

"Do you know what's been bothering me?" she asked, wondering if he could sense her pregnancy.

"No," he answered. "Are you finally going to tell me?" Kagome sighed.

"I think I'm pregnant." Kagome said quietly. InuYasha stiffened.

"That's what's been bugging you?"

"Did you know?" she asked.

"No. But… that's what happens when people… do what we did. I didn't know it would upset you." InuYasha turned her around. "Why would you… if you didn't want a baby?" he asked angrily, as though it was her fault.

"I didn't think about it! I thought you'd have enough sense to know I can't get pregnant!" she shot back, her voice rising in anger.

"Why the hell would I think that? That doesn't make any sense!"

"I'm only fifteen!"

"So? Lots of women have babies when they are fifteen! And even if I did know, how was I supposed to keep you from getting pregnant?"

"By not… when I was… you know… _able_ to get pregnant!"

"How am I supposed to know when that is? Shouldn't you know that?" he replied irritably.

"I don't know! I figured you could smell it or something! You're always complaining about my time of the month!"

"Well, yeah, because that's blood, stupid!"

"Don't call me stupid! Don't you think I feel bad enough already?" she yelled, tears forming. His expression changed and his ears went back.

"Wha-what are you… don't cry!" he yelled. "I don't want to make you cry!"

"Well I can't help it! You think I'm stupid!"

"You _are_ stupid!" he yelled back.

"SIT BOY!" she shrieked, then sat on her heels, crying loudly. She ignored InuYasha's pitiful whimpers from where he had face-planted a few steps away. "How can you say things like that? Don't you care about me?"

"Of course I care," InuYasha responded, speaking into the ground. After the spell wore off, he sat up and sighed. "I just don't understand why you're so upset over something that's _supposed_ to happen. Why…" he struggled for a moment, then finally continued, "Why make love if you don't want children?"

"Because I love you!" she answered, then blushed. She had never said so out loud and to hear it… she suddenly worried that he might not feel the same. But his expression softened and he moved over to her, reaching out cautiously to touch her back.

"I love you, too," he said. "I would never have asked if I didn't. I _want_ you to be the mother of my children," he said. She looked into his eyes, seeing the hurt there. "I never knew you didn't want to have my child." He looked away, his ears drooping. "I can't blame you. I mean, I remember my mother crying for me, because she knew what it meant for me to be a hanyo. So I understand if you don't want to have hanyo children."

"InuYasha," Kagome said, shocked. She'd had no idea that's what he was thinking. She turned and hugged him. "I didn't mean it like that," she said, wiping her tears on his haori. "I meant I'm not _ready_ to have kids yet." She stroked his hair, burying her fingers in it and laid her head on his shoulder. "I don't care that you're a hanyo. I wouldn't care that our children would be hanyo. But I don't want to lose everything I've worked so hard for."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"My education. I don't want to be _just_ a mother. I want to be a veterinarian."

"A what?"

"An animal doctor," she explained. "It's what I want to be when I grow up. I want to help sick animals."

"I didn't know that," he said, touching her face. "But it makes sense. You're such a giving person," he said. "I know I don't tell you a lot of things I should and I say a lot of things I shouldn't. But I do care for you, Kagome. And I do think you're pretty," he muttered the last part.

"You do?" she asked, then beamed. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was startled, but happily kissed her back. She sighed as she pulled back, and then turned so she was sitting with her back against his chest. "What should I do?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"About the baby? I mean, you _are _the father, so you should have a say in it, I suppose."

"A say in what?"

"Whether I keep it or not." Kagome felt InuYasha tense.

"What do you mean, 'keep it'?"

"Well, I _should_ have an abortion," she said quietly. She felt his fingers dig into her arms.

"How can you say that?" he asked.

"People don't think of it the same way where I come from."

"You're _not_ killing our baby," he said. "So stop worrying about it."

"But how can I go to school with a baby?" she asked. He frowned and was quiet for a while.

"Can't I just take care of the baby while you're at school? I mean, I know it's weird, but if it's so important to you…"

"You would do that?" she asked.

"Yeah. Now can you stop running away every time I come near you?"

"Yeah," she answered, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. A thought that she would still have to confront her mother and grandfather entered her mind, but she quickly pushed it away. If InuYasha was willing to help, everything would be alright. It had to be.

**To be continued… **


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I do not own Kagome. I do not own the worlds they live in. I will not borrow other people's characters without a disclaimer. I will not eat chalk. I will not mock Mrs. Dumbface. I will not pretend I'm Bart Simpson writing sentences. End of Disclaimer. _

Genre: Drama  
Rating: M  
Codes: Inu/Kag, Mir/San (or canon)  
Feedback: Is much appreciated. Flames are for candles, though, so please keep them to warm yourself.

* * *

"**Consequences**"

* * *

**Part Two**

After another few weeks of unsuccessful Naraku hunting and failing to get two shards, Kagome needed to go home again. Especially since she had begun suffering from morning sickness. All day long. So Kirara gave her a ride back to the well and down she went. She no longer wondered if she was pregnant, she was quite positive. Though she had no swelling yet, the morning sickness was a dead giveaway. She walked inside and waved at her mother, going upstairs quickly to drop her now almost-empty backpack on her bed before drawing a bath. Her mom came upstairs as the water was running and knocked on the door.

"I just really want a bath right now, Mama. I'll be down in a little bit."

"All right, dear. I just wanted you to know that Ayumi and Yuka were by earlier. Apparently, Eri is in the hospital."

"Oh, no!" Kagome said, dropping the shirt she was carefully folding. "What's wrong?"

"Her appendix burst."

"Is she okay?"

"She can have visitors," was her mother's response.

"Thanks for telling me," Kagome called, then crawled into her bath happily. She would visit Eri as soon as she ate something. She was starting to feel hungry and if it got bad, she would throw up. So, despite wanting to lounge around for a long time in the nice, hot bath, she got out as soon as she was clean and ran quickly to the refrigerator. She glared at everything inside, then grabbed a cup of ramen and stuck it in the microwave, unable to wait for the water to boil in the kettle.

"Kagome, haven't you been eating?" her mom asked, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, mom, I'm just really hungry," she said quickly. Unfortunately, her half-truth caught up with her and her stomach lurched. She knew she couldn't make it to the bathroom, so she grabbed the trashcan and lurched.

"Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed. She knelt by her daughter and pulled her hair back. "Are you sick?"

"Oh, Mama, I didn't want to tell you like this," Kagome said, sitting on the floor. She gazed out the kitchen window and tried to decide how to phrase it.

"Oh, Kagome," her mother said, sounding upset. "Please don't say what I think you're going to."

"I'm sorry, Mama," Kagome said, hanging her head. "I know I shouldn't have…"

"I trusted you, Kagome," Mrs. Higurashi said, frowning. She stood and walked away, pulling Kagome's ramen out of the microwave. "I thought you knew better."

"Mama, I love—"

"Of course you do. I know that. But it was bad enough that I always had to worry about you dying in the feudal era. I never thought I had to worry about you… with that boy. You always seemed so responsible."

"I am, Mama. InuYasha's going to—"

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to speak of this right now. I'm very disappointed in you."

"Mama…" Kagome whispered. She hadn't expected her to take it so badly. Mrs. Higurashi put the ramen on the tale.

"Please, Kagome. Just eat and visit your friend. I'll make an appointment for you at a clinic."

"No, Mama," Kagome said, kneeling in front of the table. Her mother froze.

"What?"

"I'm keeping the baby."

"Kagome—"

"InuYasha wants it and it's his, too." Kagome lifted her hashi and took a bite, although it stuck in her throat.

"I'm not sure I want you seeing InuYasha anymore," Mrs. Higurashi said. Kagome gasped, dropping the next bite.

"I have to go back and search for the shards!"

"He will just have to search without you!" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed. "I should have known it was a bad idea for you to go in the first place. I have tried to be a good mother, tried to be supportive. But I thought I raised you better!" Kagome put her hand over her mouth, shocked. She hadn't heard her mother raise her voice but a few times in her life. Mrs. Higurashi looked at Kagome, who had started crying, and then bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Kagome, but I can't let you ruin your life. Missing school, having to make up excuses… How do you think you're going to manage high school with a baby?"

"InuYasha said he would help me," Kagome protested.

"You're being unrealistic. But it's your choice; I can't make it for you. What I _can_ do is forbid you to go back down the well."

"Mama!"

"And when InuYasha comes for you, I will just tell him to go and leave you alone." Mrs. Higurashi tried to ignore Kagome's open weeping, as much as it wrenched at her heart. "You're only fifteen!" she yelled over Kagome's crying.

"I know!" Kagome sobbed. "But things are different back then. Girls my age—"

"You don't live back then, Kagome, you live _now_."

"How can I do this without InuYasha's help?" Kagome wailed.

"I'll have to help you," she said. "Do you think I wouldn't anyway?" Kagome stood up, her appetite completely lost. She wiped her eyes and left the house, grabbing her bike. She pedaled furiously, trying to get away from her house as fast as possible. Skipping eating caught up to her and she ended up stopping to dry heave in some bushes.

Finally, she reached the hospital and parked her bike on a bike rack, then walked in. She saw Yuka right away and walked over to her quickly.

"Kagome!" Yuka and Ayumi exclaimed. "How is your carbon monoxide poisoning?" Ayumi asked.

"Huh?" Kagome said before realizing that it must have been another invented disorder her grandfather came up with.

"That's what the school said…" Yuka commented , looking confused.

"Yeah," Kagome said. "Well, actually, this time the doctors were wrong," she said, vaguely remembering that it caused many of the same symptoms as pregnancy.

"Oh? What's wrong, Kagome, it isn't something more serious is it?" Ayumi said, looking concerned.

"No. I… I'm not sick," Kagome confessed. "I'm pregnant." Both girls gasped.

"It's that boy's isn't it? The controlling one with the temper? Oh, Kagome!" Yuka gasped.

"What are you going to do?" Ayumi asked, sympathetically.

"Well, he wants me to keep it," Kagome admitted. "He wants to help, watch the baby while I'm at school, but my mom says I can't see him again."

"Oh, that's terrible!" Ayumi said. "He really wants to help and your mom won't let him?"

"I think she's right," Yuka said. "I mean, if he was inconsiderate enough to get Kagome pregnant, who says he's responsible enough to be a father?" A thought seemed to occur to her and she turned her head slightly to the side. "Isn't he in school?"

"Well, he's actually a little older than me," Kagome said. It was always so hard to explain about InuYasha. She couldn't even use his name, since it was a giveaway about what he was.

"He's not… like _way_ older is he?" Yuka asked, looking scandalized.

"No, no! It's nothing like that! He's just… finished with school," she concluded lamely. _Actually, _she thought, _he's like two hundred years old, but looks like he's sixteen._

"Wow, Kagome. I had no idea you were so serious about this guy," Yuka said. Kagome nodded.

"I… I love him," she said softly. Then she remembered the reason she was here. "But I'm not here to talk about me. I heard that there was something wrong with Eri."

"Yeah, she had to have her appendix out. Her parents are in there now, but when she comes out, you can go in. She can only have two visitors at a time."

"And we have already seen her once," Ayumi added.

"Thanks," Kagome said, then sat down in a chair and waited. She visited Eri when it was her turn, relating the same story she had told Yuka and Ayumi, to make up for how bad her friend felt. She took the reprimand Eri offered, but was surprised when Eri said she didn't agree with her mom.

"If this guy wants to do the right thing, I don't think it's right, keeping him from his baby."

"I don't know what to do," she admitted. "I think my mom's wrong. And worse, I don't think he'll just leave when she tells him to. After all, I told him that we would work it out. How can we do that if…" Kagome stopped. "Listen to me, prattling on when you've just had surgery!"

"No, please. I'm tired of being asked how I'm doing and talking about the surgery. Some gossip is just what the doctor ordered," Eri said with a grin. Kagome grinned back and kept talking to her until the nurse came in and said that she had been there a half hour. She said good-bye to Eri and wished her a speedy recover, then left. She stopped when she saw her bike and cringed. She didn't want to go home, but she had no choice. So she got on the bike and rode back home, carefully putting it away when she reached her destination. She glared at the shrine from the outside, then walked in, storming past her mom without a word, despite Mrs. Higurashi asking how Eri was doing, then went to her room and shut the door. She flung herself down on the bed and cried. She had been crying a lot easier than she ever had before and she figured it was the hormones.

* * *

Kagome sulked for the next several days. She went to school, came home, went to her room. She refused to eat because every time she did, she threw up. She was surviving on milk and crackers for the most part. She had strange cravings, but every time she gave into them, she got sick. She dreamed of InuYasha braking into her room and telling her to pack her bag, that he was taking her back with him, no matter what her mom said. But when he did come, she was there, and she heard her mother yell at him and saw him running back to the well house. She cried herself to sleep every night afterwards and after two more weeks, the pain came.

She was sitting in class, not really paying attention, feeling sorry for herself because she missed InuYasha. Her stomach was tight with stress and she felt lightheaded. There was a small bulge now that didn't really show under her uniform yet, but she liked to touch it a lot. It was all she had of InuYasha now. That, and the jar of shikon jewel shards. She felt like crying, but pushed it down, for the hundredth time, it seemed, when a pain shot from her lower back into her abdomen. Kagome cried out in shock.

"Higurashi?" her teacher exclaimed, worried. "What's wrong?" Kagome tried to say something, but had to clench her teeth closed against the pain.

"I need a doctor, sensei!" she finally managed to get out. The teacher nodded and told the class to open their history books and begin reading their chapter. Ayumi, Eri and Yuka raised their hands.

"Sensei, we will help Higurashi-chan!" Ayumi said. The teacher nodded and two of the girls took Kagome by the arms. Eri picked up Kagome's bag and followed behind.

Two hours later, Kagome was laying in a hospital bed, a fetal monitor hooked up to her, beeping the rapid heartbeat of her baby. The doctors said she nearly miscarried and said that it was probably from stress, explaining that many girls her age lost their babies for that reason. She tried very hard to think pleasant thoughts and not to worry until the pain was gone. There was a painful IV in her hand that they had used to take blood and to put some medicine in that had stopped the contractions. She was worried about the ultrasound the nurse said they were going to perform soon. Would her baby have ears like its father? Would they be able to tell it was a hanyo?

"Kagome?" a voice called. Kagome looked over at her mother and smiled. She had been angry, very angry for quite a while, but she knew her mother only did what she felt was right because she loved her. "Oh, my baby, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Kagome whispered. She had a mild headache and she felt tired. "I almost miscarried," she explained. Her mom sat next to her, frowning.

"Did the doctors say why?"

"They said it was stress," Kagome answered. A look of guilt passed over her mother's features and she looked away. They didn't say anything else as they waited for the nurse. Eventually, she had her ultrasound, found out she was carrying a girl and that nothing was wrong. Kagome was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and gratefully accepted the picture from the ultrasound of the shadow of her daughter. Several hours later, she was released and went home.

_**To be concluded…**_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. I do not own Kagome. I do not own the worlds they live in. I will not borrow other people's characters without a disclaimer. I will not eat chalk. I will not mock Mrs. Dumbface. I will not pretend I'm Bart Simpson writing sentences. End of Disclaimer. _

Genre: Drama  
Rating: M  
Codes: Inu/Kag, Mir/San (or canon)  
Feedback: Is much appreciated. Flames are for candles, though, so please keep them to warm yourself.

* * *

"**Consequences**"

* * *

**Part three**

Kagome couldn't take it anymore. She was now five months pregnant and she heard the whispers in the halls at school. She didn't want to disappoint her mother any more, but she felt she had run out of options. So she packed her bag in secret and instead of going to school, she hopped down the well. She ended up on the other side, glaring up at the exit. Climbing in this state was horribly uncomfortable, but she knew InuYasha wasn't up there waiting for her. So she reached out and grabbed the vines and began pulling. She had to be careful at the top, so she didn't press on her belly, but she finally managed to maneuver out. She sat, panting and leaning up against the well, for a good several minutes. Then she forced herself up and walked to Kaede's village.

"Kagome?" called the familiar old voice as soon as she walked up past the river. Kagome waved at Kaede, tugging at her sweater that hid the visibly protruding tummy better than her school uniform did. She had to order a much larger uniform to cover her growing baby. She smiled at Kaede, who was staring in surprise at her swollen frame.

"Have you seen InuYasha?" Kagome asked. Kaede shook her head.

"What have ye done child?" Kaede asked. Kagome blushed.

"It's InuYasha's. My mother forbade me to return, but…" Kagome looked away in shame. A crack of thunder sounded overhead and a few raindrops began to fall. Kaede tugged on Kagome's arm in concern.

"Come, child, ye need to get out of this cold rain. Tis not good for the baby." Kaede led Kagome to her hut and sat her down in front of the warm fire. Kagome sighed, not realizing how happy she would be to return. It felt like all the things that were wrong in her life were finally becoming right. "I will send out word to any that see InuYasha, to tell him that ye have returned."

"Thank you, Kaede," Kagome responded gratefully. Now it was just time to play the waiting game. In the meantime, Kagome went over all the lessons she would have been doing that day in class. She read until dinner, then ate with Kaede and resumed reading afterwards. She fell asleep right after finishing her math practice and dreamt that her mother came down the well looking for her. Only a couple hours after she fell asleep, something woke her up. She opened her eyes to see InuYasha, laying next to her. His eyes were closed and his breathing said he was sleeping very soundly. He had one arm draped across her chest. It was heavy and she shrugged it away uncomfortably. He opened his eyes, startled by her movement.

"Hey," he said quietly, smiling.

"Hey yourself," she whispered back.

"I missed you," he confessed, stroking her hair out of her face. She leaned in and kissed him briefly, just happy to see him again.

"I missed you, too. I couldn't stay away, even with my mom forbidding me from ever coming back."

"You really went against your mother?" InuYasha asked, surprised. "That's no good."

"I know. I feel terrible. But I couldn't go without seeing you. It felt like there was a dagger in my heart," she murmured.

"Everyone's been real upset that you never came back. I told 'em about your mom runnin' me off when I came to get you. They don't get it and neither do I. Why would she want you to do this all alone when I could be helping you?"

"She's angry with me. She says I betrayed her trust," Kagome said.

"I have to take you back in the morning," InuYasha said quietly. Kagome nodded.

"Tell everyone that I miss them and I wish I could come back."

"I will. But I'm coming back with you. Even if your mom hits me with a broom again."

"She hit you with a _broom_?" Kagome asked, incredulously. InuYasha nodded.

"She hit me real hard, too. Left a big bruise." InuYasha rubbed his head, lost in the memory. Kagome was torn between laughing and pitying poor InuYasha, facing her mother's wrath.

"Make love to me," Kagome whispered. "If this is our last chance to be together, please let us be _together_." InuYasha smiled and obliged her.

* * *

The morning came, as all mornings do, and they faced the well with trepidation. They knew all hell was going to break loose on the other side. They linked hands and jumped in. InuYasha lifted Kagome and jumped up and out. Her mother was waiting, fury clouding her features. Kagome hopped down and stepped back, afraid. 

"_You_," Mrs. Higurashi hissed. "Go back. _Now_." InuYasha's ears went back and his head dropped in fear, but he didn't obey.

"I can't," he said. She took a step forward, her hand grabbing the broom she had set on the wall next to her. He closed his eyes and braced himself. Kagome realized that he intended to keep his promise to her, even if it meant letting her mother beat him senseless.

"Stop!" Kagome yelled. Mrs. Higurashi turned to her, glaring.

"I _forbade_ you to go back there!" she said. "How could you, Kagome? How can I ever trust you again?"

"Look, I still don't understand why you don't want Kagome with me, unless it's because I'm a hanyo, but I promised her that I would help her with the baby if she wouldn't kill it. I'm not going to break my promise. If you want me to leave her, you're going to have to kill me." InuYasha lifted his head defiantly, but there was no cocky smile of challenge on his face. There was no anger or fear. There was only sadness. Mrs. Higurashi saw it and let go of the broom.

"How could you?" she asked him. "My little girl…" Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Because I love her," InuYasha said quietly, looking confused. "I want to be with her. Always. I didn't know she didn't want to get pregnant or I would have waited. I just wanted her to know that I love her."

"And you couldn't just _say_ it?" Mrs. Higurashi exclaimed. She was getting a hold of herself very quickly.

"Anyone can _say _it. Words can mean nothing," InuYasha responded. "I'm sorry that I caused all this trouble. But it's not fair to either of us for you to punish us by not letting me help. That's my baby in Kagome. I have the right to take care of him."

"Her," Kagome corrected automatically.

"What?" InuYasha asked, confused.

"I'm carrying a girl."

"A girl," InuYasha repeated. "How do you know?"

"We can tell now. We have machines that see inside the human body," Kagome answered.

"I don't like that you went against my direct wishes," Mrs. Higurashi interrupted. "But you're right, InuYasha. It's not fair for Kagome to be alone when you're willing to take responsibility for your actions." InuYasha looked at her like it might be a trick. He still looked ready to be hit again.

"Then he can stay?" Kagome asked, hopefully.

"You will _not _have sex under my roof, is that understood?" Mrs. Higurashi demanded. "From this point forward, you are both celibate until you are married."

"Yes, ma'am," they both answered in unison.

"I had better not regret this," Mrs. Higurashi said.

"You won't, Mama," Kagome promised. But one last thing remained to be asked. "About the feudal era?"

"Go ahead. But you _must_ be _careful_," she stressed.

"Oh, Mama!" Kagome cried happily, running over and hugging her mother impulsively. Her mother hugged her back.

"And _you_," Mrs. Higurashi growled. InuYasha swallowed audibly, a look of fear returning to his features. "If she gets hurt, it's your fault. I don't want to see a scratch on her when she gets back!" InuYasha nodded vigorously. Mrs. Higurashi smiled weakly. "Have a safe trip."

"I will, Mama, thank you," Kagome answered. She took InuYasha's hand and smiled. They knew everything would be all right now. They turned back to the well and waved good-bye one last time before they jumped. They had their entire futures ahead of them and a quest to complete.

* * *

Epilogue 

Kagome had her daughter, a silver-haired hanyo with pointed ears and golden eyes, a month early and in her own time period. InuYasha fulfilled his promise and Kagome was able to go to high school and search for the jewel shards, although she did collapse, three months after their daughter was born, from exhaustion. She was laid up for a month, then resumed her activities, taking it much easier. They located Naraku and Kagome had her mother watch her daughter during the big battle. Naraku eluded them and they tracked him down yet again. This time, the little girl was a year old. Naraku was defeated, finally, and everyone went their separate ways. Miroku and Sango were married and Sango bore him two children very quickly, much to his delight. A son, then a daughter. Shippo went his own way in the world. InuYasha came through the well to live with Kagome and their daughter. Kagome graduated from college with honors and opened her own veterinary clinic on the second year anniversary of her marriage to InuYasha.

As long as she kept the shikon no tama, Kagome was able to travel between the two times. She saw Japan transformed and the beginning of the Youkai Wars. She stopped going back then, for fear that InuYasha would be involved. They had a second child, a son, seven years after their first. The same age difference as Kagome and Sota. Kagome and InuYasha kept their promise to her mother and remained chaste until their wedding night. Kagome eventually regained her mother's trust and when she married InuYasha, it was with her mother's full blessing.

**The End. **

_Notes: Wow, I wrote most of this in an all-night binge. It seems like there should be more than only 6,000 words. Admittedly, time was taken in researching certain concepts (such as common Japanese attitude towards teen sex, pregnancy and abortion, including spiritual repercussions according to the Buddhist faith, and which of Kagome's friends is the odd one out all the time--Ayumi). I have no beta, so all mistakes are mine, as usual._


End file.
